PATTERN CUTTING MACHINE

摘要

An apparatus and method for cutting material (23) such as lace along a boundary of a pre-existing pattern on the material. The apparatus comprises a cutting means which consists of a beam of electromagnetic radiation (17) such as a laser beam; a scanning means (15, 16) such as a digital scanning array, which scans the material prior to cutting and recognises the boundary as the required cut path; and at least one galvanometric mirror (11). Information obtained by the scanning means causes the mirror (11) to tilt, in order to direct the beam by reflection onto the material along the required cut path. A small angle of tilt of the mirror causes a large movement of the cutting beam and enables automatic high-speed cutting and trimming of lace and similar patterned fabrics. Electronic pattern masking assists in cutting of complex re-entrant shapes. A second mirror, orthogonal to the first, may be utilised to enable movement of the cutting means in a direction parallel to the movement of the material. A second beam can be switched on or off when required to cut divergent paths in re-entrant shapes.